EDINBURGH, Scotland — Against the backdrop of the Wimbledon tennis tournament, former U.S.
champion Billie Jean King in a new documentary tells the tale of how she struck a blow for female
equality.

The Battle of the Sexes recounts King’s journey from an amateur player to a feminist
sports idol whose 1973 defeat of self-confessed “chauvinist pig” Bobby Riggs set women’s rights and
tennis on the road to a modern game in which Serena Williams can enjoy equal status and prize money
with Novak Djokovic. The film premiered last week in Scotland; a U.S. release datehas yet to be
set.

The six-time Wimbledon champion, 69, said that these days, top players such as Williams have
come a long way from the 1970s, when the documentary says women needed approval from their husbands
to arrange their own finances.

“Well, I would say, for the most part, the players today are living our dream,” King said.

Historical footage follows King’s rise as a young tennis prodigy. As she matures, joins the
breakaway pioneers of a professional women’s tennis circuit and then founds the Women’s Tennis
Association to fight for better recognition, along comes retired Wimbledon champion Bobby Riggs
with a challenge.

The brash and compulsive gambler — who died in 1995 — said the female game was inferior and that
even at age 55, a top female player couldn’t beat him.

The film climaxes with the nail-biting match between the 29-year-old queen of the court and the
self-promoting Riggs in Houston that was watched by about 100 million people on television. King
won the $100,000 winner-take-all match.

In the film, King also recounts another battle she was fighting and has carried on since — gay
rights.